Don’t let Mother Nature put a damper on your summer fishing adventures. If your big day has to be put on hold because of bad weather, have some fish-themed fun indoors.
Children looking forward to reeling in the “big one” can practice their dexterity skills by making the following colorful underwater creatures:
Fish Shapes: Cut various shapes (e.g. rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, diamonds, hearts, etc.) from colored construction paper, and then let kids use the shapes to construct their own fish. When they’ve put the final touches on their fish, have the kids glue the pieces in place and adhere them to a piece of blue construction paper.
Paper Plate Fish: This little swimmer only requires a few basic materials: a paper plate, scissors, crayons or markers and some embellishments (e.g. gems, cotton balls, sequins, glitter, buttons, stickers, etc.). To start, cut a small triangle out of one side of the paper plate to make the fish’s mouth. Attach the triangle to the opposite side of the paper plate to make the tail. Draw on an eye and some scales and embellish with your collection of decorations.
Paper Porthole: To make this underwater eye, you will need two paper plates, a pencil, silver craft paint, 8 Fruit Loops, 10 goldfish crackers, artificial leaves, sea shells, sand, craft glue, wax paper, blue cellophane and scissors. First, place one paper plate right side up and the other upside down. On the plate that is right side up, draw a sea floor about one-third of the way down the plate, and then apply glue over the entire drawing. Liberally sprinkle sand onto the glue, and let dry. On the other plate, draw a circle for the porthole and cut it out. Glue the Fruit Loops around the porthole. These will be the porthole’s “bolts”. When the glue is completely dry, paint the Fruit Loops with the silver paint, and then glue on a piece of blue cellophane big enough to cover the hole in the plate. Next, glue the goldfish crackers, shells, and silk leaves onto the other plate. This will be your ocean. Finally, place your porthole over the ocean and let the viewing begin.